


John's Way of Helping Demon Dean

by darkroses



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Beating, Child Abuse, Demon Dean Winchester, Hurt Sam Winchester, Past Torture, Physical Abuse, Protective Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-15 23:29:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2247414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkroses/pseuds/darkroses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel raises John from the dead to help cure Dean, only things don't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	John's Way of Helping Demon Dean

Castiel was desperate to fix Dean of the Mark of Cain, so he resorted into pulling some favors and resurrected John Winchester. He had watched John from the Heavens during John’s life and never understood the man. As John woke up on the floor of the bunker with Castiel standing over him. Cas only hoped that he could make John understand.

John slowly blinked his eyes. He wasn’t sure where he was. He remembered going to Hell, escaping Hell only to end up back in Hell. Now, he was some place different. Some place that left him feeling very much like he did in his moral life. He knew this was not Hell. John glanced around and saw he was in what looked like a library, an old library.

He started to sit up when he saw a dark haired and blue eyed man standing over him with a rather serious expression on his face. John eyed him for a moment before asking, “Where am I?”

Castiel gave John a sympathetic look and said simply, “You are in the Men of Letters bunker. My name is Castiel. I am.. was an angel of the lord. I need your help.”

John slowly stood up and placed his hand on his head. It hurt from whatever had just happened to him. He spoke as confidently as he could, “I am not going to help a fallen angel.”

Castiel sighed and remembered how stubborn the Winchester brothers were, especially Dean. He gave John a stern look because most times that got through to Dean, “You son needs your help. He is a demon. You can help cure him.”

John shook his head and cursed under his breath, “I told Dean to kill Sam before that happened.”

Castiel looked away for moment as he thought only to have his thoughts interrupted by demon Dean screaming for attention. Cas looked back at John and watched as his eyes got wide. Cas stated simply, “Dean is the demon, not Sam. I don’t know where Sam is. He is hidden from all of creation but I did call him and left him a voicemail asking him to get here.” 

John stared at Cas for a moment, instinct told him not to believe him and to go rescue Dean. John started down the hallway following Dean’s screams. He wandered into he found his way to what looked like a dungeon of sorts. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Dean’s sparking green eyes.

John walked closed to Dean and said, ‘Christo’. Dean didn’t respond like a demon, he only looked up at John and said in a near panic. “Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you were dead. But please help me, this angel is crazy.”

John started to reach to undo the bindings when he felt a force move him across the room. Castiel used what he could of his grace to get John away from Dean. John hit the wall with a sharp thud and he was knocked out. Cas drug John from the room Dean was in and back into library where he tied John to a chair.

++

Sam didn’t know why Cas wanted to see him after months of no contact. He knew Cas was more than a little mad at him for resorted to black magic to try to find Dean. Now that they had Dean secured in the bunker. Sam felt it was okay to look for a cure. He knew Dean couldn’t go anywhere and Cas was keeping an eye on him just in case.

Sam slowly made his way into the bunker looking around for Cas. He closed the door behind him and yelled, “Cas?” He sighed and figured Cas must be somewhere deep inside the bunker. Sam sat his bag down by the door and started to walk in further.

He heard the muffled sound of someone trying to talk. Sam pulled the colt out from his waist band. He figured Dean must have got out and tied Cas up. That would explain why Cas was so urgent on the phone. Sam knew the colt wouldn’t kill Dean, but it would slow him down. Hopefully long enough for Sam to restrain him again.

Sam walked into the library with the gun drawn and almost dropped it to the floor when he saw his father tied to a chair. His assumptions had been wrong, so very wrong. Sam put away the gun and walked over towards his father. He didn’t say anything. He just removed the gag from his father’s mouth and stepped back.

John gasped for air and licked his lips before looking up at Sam. His voice was urgent, “Sam, some guy has your brother tied up. You have to go help Dean.”

Sam closed his eyes. He knew this was going to result in an argument. He just had to decide whether or not to untie his father for the argument. Sam opened his eyes slowly and stated firmly, “It’s not that simple. If I untie you, do you promise not to try to untie Dean? It is important that you don’t untie Dean.”

John glared at Sam for a moment, but decided to agree. He could always take the upper hand easily enough if needed. John nodded in agreement and Sam undid the ropes. John stood and rubbed his wrists as he stared at Sam. Finally he asked, “Tell me what it is going on? Dean didn’t look possessed to me.”

Sam sighed and tried to hide the aggravation in his voice, “Dean has the Mark of Cain. He is a Knight of Hell.. a demon and a powerful one at that. I don’t know why Castiel had you resurrected. It is probably part of an exorcism he wants to try. It is tricky. The other Knights of Hell we faced we killed them to stop them but I.. we don’t want to kill Dean.”

John eyed Sam for a moment and then said in a matter a fact tone, “I thought you were the one Hell wanted. I am sorry, Sammy. I told Dean to kill you before I died. I should have warned you to kill Dean.”

Sam shook his head. Right now was not the best time to admit to that so he just stated calmly, “No, you were right to tell Dean that. I was.. I am Lucifer’s vessel.” Sam paused when he watched his father’s eyes go wide. He quickly added, “But don’t worry, I did a swan dive into the cage to trap Lucifer. It is okay now.”

John could feel the anger in him building when he asked, “Okay? How is it okay? I have one son who is a Knight of Hell. One son who is supposed to be the King of Hell.  This is not good.” John moved closed to Sam and grabbed him by the throat and asked coldly, “Did you corrupt him? You did something to Dean to cause this didn’t you?”

Sam looked down into his father’s eyes. They were filled with anger. Sam tried to swallow but the grip on his throat was too tight. He gasped for air and he tried to get the words out, “No dad, it was the King of Hell. It wasn’t me.” As soon as Sam finished talking he knew he should have named Crowley instead of referring to him as the King of Hell.

Sam felt the unmistakable feeling of his father hitting him hard in the chest. John pushed Sam up against a book shelf and hit Sam repeatedly until Sam felt his legs give out beneath him. Sam fell to the floor and he leaned up against wall. He watched in silence as John pulled his belt off. He knew what was coming and he knew he should try to fight his father off of him.

But Sam couldn’t find it in himself to move, so much of his time in Lucifer’s Cage had been Lucifer making him Sam live out his father beating him over and over again. Overtime in the cage, Sam learnt not to fight it because Lucifer would only get crueler if he fought. Sam found himself frozen in fear caught between what was reality and the memories of his own childhood corrupted into something more sinister because of Lucifer.

Sam barely flinched when he felt the first strap of the belt hit him. He didn’t even pull his arms up to cover his face. He just laid with one shoulder and his head resting against the wall. His hands dangled at his side. Sam felt the hits getting progressively harder but still he was frozen. He was unable to bring himself to move out of the fear that had been instilled him during the centuries he spent in the cage.

Sam could hear his father yelling and cursing at him, just like Lucifer always had him do in the cage. He closed his eyes as the belt fell harder on his skin. He knew his father was hitting him as hard as he could. In the cage, Sam knew this would go on until the skin was literally beaten off his body. In the memories of his childhood, Sam knew it would stop when he begged for forgiveness. Sam knew he should beg but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t get the words out of his mouth.

Sam felt the back of his shirt getting wet as the belt continued to fall over him. He was certain that the belt had ripped the shirt in some places but he wasn’t about to ask and he was too scared to look. He knew was shaking by this point and crying. He didn’t honestly know what else to do. His mind was past the point of rational thought. Now, he was just enduring and waiting for it to be done so he could relish in that moment of reprieve before it all started again.

In Sam’s fog, he heard the angry voice of Castiel say, “John Winchester, I didn’t not have you resurrected to beat the life out of Sam. You are scaring and hurting him. Stop.” Sam closed his eyes as he continued to silently cry. This was another one of Lucifer’s favorite games. The game where he was given hope. Lucifer always told him that the greatest torture was hope. Sam remembered Lucifer telling Sam that the waiting, expecting, and praying for something more always led to more suffering and more pain.

So Sam didn’t hope Castiel would stop John. He knew hope was just part of the game. Hope was something to give him something to hold on too. Something to be destroyed piece by piece as he realized time and time again that he had nothing to hope for. Pain and endless torture was his fate.

Castiel walked over to John and grabbed the John’s hand holding the belt. Castiel knew from absorbing Sam’s hell damage and by his body language what was going on in Sam’s head. He knew Sam couldn’t fight if he wanted too. He knew Sam couldn’t run if he wanted too. He knew Sam was frozen. Cas had watched Sam as child when he faced his father’s wrath. He had watched from the Heavens as Sam was too weak and small to stop it. Cas knew Lucifer used those memories of childhood to scar Sam even deeper.

John stumbled back because he was not expecting Cas to be as strong as he was. His voice was sharp, “He is evil.”

Castiel pushed John away from Sam and positioned himself in between John and Sam. He glared at John for a moment and finally spoke, “Sam is a not evil. I need you to help Dean, nothing more. Then I can throw you back into the pit so you can take out your anger on someone that deserves it.”

John stepped back and dropped the belt on the floor. He looked over at Sam’s trembling form. He could see the blood seeping through the back of Sam’s shirt and he could see the marks on Sam’s arms. John thought back to what he was doing and realized that Sam didn’t even try to defend himself. He never so much as said stop.

John looked between the angel and Sam for a few moments before he finally spoke. He had never been one to enjoy admitting he may have overreacted or screwed up. He figured that Sam’s lack of reaction must be because Sam knew he deserved it, nothing more. John carried a gruff certainty in his voice, “He would have told me and tried to defend himself if he didn’t think he deserved it. I know Sam.”

Cas gave John a sympathetic look, for as much has Dean tried to teach him about humanity times like this caused him not to be able to understand. Cas turned and crouched down by Sam. He knew he didn’t have enough grace left to heal Sam. Cas ran a hand through Sam’s hair and felt the dampness of sweat. He could see the fear in Sam’s distant gaze. Cas spoke to Sam as best he could manage, “Sam, can you hear me? I am not going to let your father hurt you anymore. I am sorry I didn’t hear you come in.”

Sam lifted his head slightly after hearing Castiel’s words. He figured this was a game. One meant to give him hope. Without knowing what else to do, he sobbed and whispered. “I will not hope. Hope is the greatest form of torture. I will not hope. I will not hope.”

Cas sighed. He wasn’t sure how to deal with this and searched his memory briefly to how Dean would deal with this. He knew Dean would say something to get Sam calmed down and bring him back around. Then he would get Sam cleaned up, but not before killing whoever tried to mess with this brother. Castiel knew he couldn’t kill John quite yet. They needed John and he also needed Dean not to find out about this.

The last thing Cas needed was for the first thing Dean did after not being a demon anymore was to kill his father. That wouldn’t make for a very good rebound and it could corrupt his soul again. Cas decided that he would try to get Sam and John to forgive each other. It was the only plausible way of John Winchester avoiding certain death at the hands of Dean. But to get Sam to forgive he had to first bring him back to himself.

Castiel looked up a John and was further confused by human emotion to see concern on John’s face. Castiel shook his head and spoke firmly to John, “When Sam was in Lucifer’s cage. Lucifer used the abuse you inflicted on Sam as child as a form of torture. Lucifer made it far worse and I think Sam believes himself to be trapped in the cage again. Dean could always bring Sam out of it but we don’t have Dean right now.”

Castiel turned his attention back to Sam and spoke softly because he figured that is what Dean would do. He knew he couldn’t call Sam, Sammy, because that pet name was reserved only for Dean’s use. Although, Cas wondered if it warranted in the situation or if it would only serve to cause Sam to retract further inside himself. Cas instead decided to play it safe, “Sam, you’re okay. You’re safe now. We should get you cleaned up. Can you walk?”

Sam listened to what Cas said and wondered if this was a trick. He doubted he was really safe. He hurt too much to be safe. He could feel his clothes sticking to him from where he was bleeding and he could feel sharp pains to a dull pain throughout the exposed side of his body. Sam couldn’t respond before he heard another voice.

John’s gruff voice broke in, “What do you mean Lucifer? I sold my soul to keep my boys out of Hell.”

Castiel looked up from Sam and stated the facts clearly, “All of your boys have been to Hell. Time moves at a different rate in Hell, as you know. The deeper you go the slower time moves on Earth. Dean was in Hell on Alastair’s rack for 40 years while only 4 months happened on Earth. Sam was trapped in Lucifer’s Cage for 1,800 years while a year and a half passed on Earth. Adam is still trapped in Lucifer’s Cage. His soul is probably ash by now.” Cas paused to make sure he had John’s attention, “All of your boys have suffered and doing this to Sam is inexcusable.”

John took a step towards Sam. He wanted to comfort him like he did after he hit him as a child. He wanted Sam to understand his reasons and he wanted to make sure that he didn’t feel like he had to do again. But this time he was faced with not really knowing what to make Sam apologize for. He didn’t know what he was supposed to make Sam understand.

Then when Sam spoke, he understood what message he gave to Sam. It was a message he never intended to give his son. Sam’s voice was weak and John could tell he was struggling to focus on Cas, “Please Cas, kill me and destroy my soul. I can’t take anymore. Please Cas, end this. Everything is my fault. I can’t stop failing and messing things up. Look at what happened to Dean because I failed to close the gates of Hell.”

Cas shook his head and sighed. He did not understand this emotion coming from Sam. He stated firmly, “Sam, I will not destroy you. Dean is responsible for what happened to him, not you.”

John reached down to grab hold of Sam’s arm. He wanted to pull him up and give him a hug. He wanted to tell him it was okay, but when he reached for Sam. Sam didn’t reach back, instead he pulled himself towards the angel and tried to make himself smaller. John slowly pulled his hand away and realized he had failed at protecting his family. Sam was all he had left and Sam was scared of him. Dean is a demon that belongs in Hell and Adam is probably a demon trapped inside a cage.

He had spent so much of his life pushing Sam away because of what Sam might become and the never realized that his other two boys could just as easily fall to darkness. He never told Sam directly that he was destined for evil. John wondered if Sam figured it out at some point and rebelled against it. He wondered if that rebellion is what kept Sam from truly becoming evil while Dean’s blind obedience is what caused Dean to become evil. He didn’t know Adam well enough to know what caused his darkness. However John couldn’t help but wonder if he was a better father if none of this would have happened.

++

Sam awoke laying on his back in his room of the bunker. He vaguely remembered passing out after what he was sure was another hallucination from his time in Hell. But when Sam tried to move, he realized he hurt a lot and more than that he was only dressed in his boxers. He slowly eased himself up and looked over his body. He was bandaged but he could tell it looked like someone took a belt to him.

Sam stood and slipped a pair of pants on and t-shirt. He ran his hands through his hair to think. The last thing he remembered was resting his head on Castiel’s shoulder before everything went black. Sam sighed and figured he should probably just go find Cas to ask him what happened. He knew the angel didn’t have a filter so it should be easy enough to find out.

Sam wandered around the bunker until he found his father clearly tied to a chair and Cas lecturing him. He eased himself in into the library and walked slowly over to Cas. Sam could see his father was upset and guessed it was because the angel had him tied up.

Sam sighed, “Cas, why is my dad tied up?”

Cas gave Sam a curious look, “Do you not remember, Sam? He beat you and he is unwilling to help try to save Dean.”

Sam was certain he went pale in that moment. He ran a hand over his bandaged arm and said in an uncertain tone, “Oh, I guess I wasn’t sure how much of that was real. But I guess I wouldn’t be bandaged up if it wasn’t real.”

Cas dryly replied, “You passed out from shock. I got you to bed and cleaned up. Your father seemed sympathetic and regretful.”

Sam shook his head and looked at his dad, who had yet to say a word. Sam grimaced and said distantly, “Why did you bring him back, Cas? I could have told you he wouldn’t help Dean.”

“I know but I had to try.”

Sam nodded and looked at Cas. He understood Castiel’s pilot but he knew his father’s anger. He looked at his father and said, “I am sorry, dad. I am sorry I was never good enough. I am sorry I was never the man you wanted me to be. I am sorry, I am your son. You deserved better.”

John opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he watched as Sam turned and left the room. It hurt to know that his remaining son was unwilling to help him, but he caused this distrust. Sam had trusted him, not to hurt him and that was the first thing he did. John closed his eyes and hoped the angel would send him back to hell soon.

He wanted to go to Hell. In Hell, he had what was stolen from him in life. He could see Dean, Adam, and Mary. He could have his family even if it was evil. Even if Adam was trapped behind the bars of a cage. He would still have his sons and someday he knew Sam would join them in hell. Someday Sam would fall like the rest of his family.


End file.
